Thoughts Along Life's Highway

Chocolate Chocolate-chip breakfast bread

One of my girls’ favorite breakfast treats are the chocolate, chocolate-chip muffins that are sold in a Duncan Hines mix.  Now, while the box says that it is a whole-grain recipe, I have been pretty sure I could make them more healthy if I made them on my own. Heck, just using my freshly-ground flour and eliminating the preservatives the box mix has will make a huge difference, I think.

So, I started hunting for a recipe to play around with.  This morning, I experimented and I think I’ve come up with a pretty close replacement to the box mix.  I made it as a bread loaf today, but I think the next time I make it I will make the muffins the girls love so much.

Doesn’t that just scream yumminess to you?

I can tell you that, fresh out of the oven, it was gooey, decadent and delicious. The girls scarfed it down and I didn’t mind indulging them in the sweets, because I knew it had wholesome ingredients.

Now, if I can just figure out how to sneak some more protein and/or a veggie or two into the mix, I’d be really happy.

Just in case you want to try this out with your family, here’s the recipe. I think it would make a great first-day-of-school treat for breakfast.

Oh, and warmed up later in the day with some ice cream? Oh, yum!

Chocolate, Chocolate-Chip Breakfast Bread (or muffins)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup Honey Granules & 1/2 cup Sucanat)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, here are a few tips to make this anyway)
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan or muffin tin.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter & sugar together.
4. Add the eggs & mix well.
5. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
6. Add those to the sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk (half of the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup buttermilk, the other half of the dry ingredients, the rest of the buttermilk) until incorporated well.
7. Mix in the chocolate chips.
8. Pour mixture into loaf pan or muffin tin.
9. Bake for 1 hour (loaf pan) or 20-30 min (muffins) until toothpick comes out clean.
10. Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Summertime Fruit Cobbler

One of the things I love about summertime is the abundance of fresh fruit. I eat tons and tons of fruit and try to relish every bite, saving the sensations for those cold winter days when fruit is less plentiful and is shipped in from South America or other exotic locales – and is therefore picked early to maintain freshness in shipping. It just doesn’t have the same juicy flavors then… the flavors of summer.

When I was a girl, my mom would make this fruit cobbler. I remember it being a special treat we’d enjoy with ice cream and the combination of the sweetness of the fruit along with the crispy topping was just heaven.

I’ve made other fruit cobblers in the past – I have a recipe that has been my “go-to” cobbler recipe and I just love it – not for the recipe but because it is written by my grandmother’s hand. I don’t have too many things like that anymore and I really cherish it. It is one of the few recipes I’ve not transferred to a typewritten format.

Love her shorthand… and her handwriting.

sigh.

Anyway.

While I was at Mom’s last week, she had an abundance of peaches that were ripening on the counter. We decided to make peach cobbler one night.  I wanted to do one that was different from this one and Mom thought she had some other recipes.  Lo and behold she uncovered the one that she used to make when I was a girl.

yay!

Angelina helped us to make it. She was the official “mixer” of the ingredients…well, of everything except the part with the boiling water. I did that one for safety reasons. :-)

It was just like I remembered. Crispy on the top, fluffy cobbler breading and sweet fruit filling.  Total bliss.

Last night I made the cobbler with some blueberries that had been languishing in the refrigerator.  SuperMan hates it when I leave blueberries in the fridge for too long because they invariably fall out and spill all over the floor at some point. So, I decided in the interest of household peace, we’d eat the little suckers.

It was just as yummy as the peach version.

Here’s the recipe in case you want to try it…

It’s totally flexible – use strawberries, blueberries, any kind of berries or stone fruits.  You can’t go wrong. You could even go crazy and use apples and add some cinnamon for a fall treat. (hmmm….)

Mom’s Fruit Cobbler

Fresh or canned fruit (I used a combination of both for the blueberry one, we used about six fresh peaches for the peach one)
1 3/4 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup plus 3/8 cup Splenda Blend)
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2/3 cup boiling water

1. Cover bottom of 8x8 inch square pan with fruit.
2. Mix 3/4 cup sugar, butter, baking powder, salt, milk & flour together. (use the 3/8 cup Splenda blend here)
3. Spoon over fruit.
4. Mix remaining sugar & cornstarch. Sprinkle over dish.
5. Pour boiling water over top.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

 

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"C" is for Cookie

I tried a new cookie recipe this week. Well, it wasn’t a new recipe. Just new to me.

I had tasted these cookies at the bread class I went to back in April.  They had them as dessert for the luncheon we had after we learned to make the breads.  They were oh, so yummy.

My friend Deborah and I decided we just had to make them for our families. Fortunately, they gave us the recipe in our goodie bags, so the plan was made.

And then I forgot about them.

Until this week when Deborah stopped by for a quick visit this week and she mentioned them.

And then I couldn’t stop thinking about them!

So, I decided to whip up a batch, hoping I had the ingredients on hand. I had most of them, which resulted in a few substitutions and a very yummy finished product.

Here’s the result. A chewy, slightly sweet, but not overly sweet cookie. It was a huge hit with the kids and the neighbors.

One little thing, though. These are made without sugar. Or, rather, without “traditional” sugar.  They are made using sucanat.

Sucanat is a sweetener made from the juice of sugar cane.  First the juice is extracted and then the moisture is evaporated, leaving crystals which are sucralose. It has a rich, sweet, molasses taste and is not as sweet as refined white sugar (which is what most of us use). I also used Sucanat with honey. This is the same, except that a small amount of honey is added before the evaporation process which yields a milder, sweeter crystal.

Both of these work well in substituting for brown sugar (Sucanat) and white sugar (Sucanat with honey) And, if you don’t have Sucanat at home, you can substitute white or brown sugar 1:1 without issue.

So, give it a try if you have a hankerin’ for a cookie one day and want something a little bit different.

I think you’ll be glad you did.

Summertime Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sucanat with honey (or white sugar)
1 cup sucanat (or light brown sugar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Heath toffee bits

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugars until creamy.
3. Add eggs & vanilla; mix well.
4. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt.  Add to butter mixture and mix well.
5. Stir in the oats, chips and bits.
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
7. These will be chewy-gooey when they first come out of the oven, so let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before you transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling – if you don’t they will fall apart on your spatula.
8. Store in a tightly covered container (if they last that long)

Note: the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. No one in my house likes coconut (except me) and the kids don’t care for nuts, so I substituted the white chocolate & toffee bits for those ingredients.

Colonel Lois’ Cole Slaw

I will start this post off with a confession to you. I don’t eat cole slaw. Never have. I’ve tried it a few times, but never got past the raw cabbage taste.

SuperMan, on the other hand, loves cole slaw.

So, because I love my man, I make cole slaw. Regularly. Or at least I try to make it regularly.

I’ve been making a concoction that was mostly invented through trial and error and a little coaching from my momma. (That’s what mommas are for, right?)

SuperMan eats it and says he likes it, but I always felt like I could do better. So, I’ve been on the hunt for another recipe he might like. But it’s challenging because I don’t eat cole slaw and therefore it’s hard to tell what might or might not work in a recipe.

I knew that SuperMan liked Cole Slaw from KFC. And so I set out to try to replicate that recipe. Why not start there, I thought? I searched on the internet for some of those restaurant-secrets websites where they have tried to duplicate restaurant recipes for the home kitchen.  After finding a few with the KFC cole slaw recipe, I decided to give it a try. We were having friends over for dinner and I was serving a cold supper of chicken salad and pasta salad and I thought the cole slaw would be a perfect accompaniment.

I am sorry I don’t have a picture for you – the photo-taking part of this food prep task got forgotten in the huge mess I made in my kitchen.  I had stuff everywhere. I was more interested in getting finished and cleaning up than in documenting the finished products!

ANYWAY.

The verdict of those who consumed it was that it was a pretty-darn-close replica of the Colonel’s cole slaw recipe.  One of my friends, who said she’d never had KFC cole slaw said she loved it. And what made me even happier was that SuperMan loved it. That’s what really counts. :-)

This is not a real mayonnaise-y type of cole slaw. It’s got a tiny bit, but it’s really more about complimenting the natural flavors of the vegetables in the salad. It’s not goopy or real wet. Actually, if I did eat cole slaw, this would be the type I’d want. Fresh, crisp and clean tasting.

Here you go:

Colonel Lois’ Cole Slaw

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper (I used a little more because SuperMan likes pepper)
8 cups finely chopped cabbage (1 head – think chop the size of grains of rice. Use your food processor)
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot (about 1 carrot)
2 Tbsp minced onion

1. Chop carrots & cabbage into very fine pieces (like rice grains)
2. Combine mayo, sugar, milk, buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, salt & pepper in a large bowl and beat until smooth.
3. Add the cabbage, carrots & onion.
4. Mix well.
5. Cover & refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

A couple of notes:

I made mine the night before I was planning to serve it. The next morning, there was quite a bit of liquid in the bottom of the bowl. SuperMan didn’t like this, so I placed about 2-3 paper towels in a colander and dumped the bowl of cole slaw in the colander. I let this sit, over another bowl, for about 30 minutes. Most of that excess water drained out. Now, truthfully, I think most of that was from the milk and vinegar, etc. that I’d put in it and I think it was supposed to be there. But the man didn’t like it, so I got rid of it! He said it didn’t affect the taste at all.

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Tropical Pound Cake ~ the Perfect Summertime Dessert

I mentioned on my Five on Friday post last week that I wanted to try this pound cake recipe – and I actually baked it on Saturday for a get together I was having at the house.  True to form, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly (how boring would that be?!?) and after the rave reviews I received on Saturday night, I decided to share my version of the recipe with you here.

I am sorry I don’t have a picture – it didn’t last long enough for me to snap one – but here is a copy of the picture of the original cake recipe (from their blog)

For my version, I added a glaze (recipe below) and left off the sprinkling of coconut on the top.  I am also renaming it because I added a little more “tropicalness” to the cake in my ingredient choices… it’s not the pure lemon-coconut cake that the original recipe was.

The yogurt (instead of sour cream) in this recipe yields an interesting flavor and texture to the cake. I think it made it a softer cake – sweeter, a little bit, than with the sour cream.

This is the perfect summertime dessert. Light, refreshing and simply delicious. I served it with fresh sliced strawberries, but it was really good with tea the next morning for a simple breakfast snack as well.

This is not a large cake recipe. It bakes up a perfect loaf-sized pound cake (unlike my Great-grandma’s lemon pound cake which is a monster in a tube pan)

So, if you are looking for something to bake for a special occasion and don’t want any leftovers, this is a good choice.

Lois’ Tropical Pound Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coconut
1 container Chobani Pineapple Greek Yogurt (6 oz)
1 lemon zested (just the zest)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together at medium speed until creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and add extracts to eggs.  Beat slightly to break yolks and mix in extracts.
5. Add eggs to sugar/butter mixture, beating just until blended.
6. Alternate adding flour mixture and yogurt to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
7. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice and 1/2 cup coconut.
8. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loaf pan.
9. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Mine took close to an hour and ten minutes.)
10. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes and then remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Glaze:

4 cups powdered sugar
lemon juice
1 Tablespoon melted butter

1. In a large, microwave safe measuring bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter and enough lemon juice to make a thick (just a little looser than a paste) mixture. A whisk works great here.
2. Place in microwave for about 30 seconds, until glaze gets a little liquidy (yes, this is a technical cooking term)
3. Whisk mixture to thoroughly combine.
4. Pour onto cake.
5. As the butter cools, you will get a nice, set glaze with a glossy sheen.

 

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Perfectly Summer Pasta Salad

I mentioned on Monday that I had a really good pasta salad recipe to share with you.

This is one of my concoctions that I just made up as I went along. I started with the base recipe for my favorite chicken pasta salad and got creative from there.

I served it at our Sunday Small Group dinner. Everyone loved it. SuperMan and I are eating on the leftovers for our lunches this week. I think it tastes even better after it’s had a day or so to sit and let the flavors meld.

It’s cool, refreshing and tasty for a weeknight dinner during the summer. You can add some meat – shrimp? chicken? if you desire, but it’s good all by itself, too.

I used this pasta. I have just recently discovered it and I love it.

It’s made with veggies in the pasta and is supposed to provide a full serving of vegetables in every pasta serving. I just like the taste and the pretty colors. :-)

But, if it helps me get a little more vegetables in the kids, I’m all for it.

You can download a coupon for $1 off two boxes here.

And now, on to the recipe. I will suggest that you have fun with this if you make it yourself… add whatever veggies you have in your crisper… I even considered getting some of those mini mozzarella pearls to put in it, but didn’t have time to go to the store again.

Perfectly Summer Pasta Salad

1 lb cooked fusilli pasta (the corkscrew/twisty ones)
1 red & 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped 
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 carrots, finely chopped (I used my food processor)
1 head broccoli, cut into tiny pieces
~ 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
diced black olives (I used one small can)
~ 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used a mix of parmesan, asiago and fontina)
1 bottle of balsamic vinaigrette (I used Ken’s Steakhouse because it was Buy 1 Get 1 at the store)

House Seasoning (to taste)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

In a large bowl, combine vegetables & pasta. Toss to mix well.
Add 1/2 bottle of dressing, sunflower seeds and olives.
At this point, you can store the salad until you’re ready to serve.

Just before serving, toss the cheese and remaining vinaigrette in the pasta salad.

Best served chilled.

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Hobo Pockets and Grill Cooking

I mentioned on Facebook that I’d cooked Hobo Pockets on the grill last night and several of you asked for the recipe.  This is something that is popular when camping, but I decided yesterday “why not try it on the grill?” and so I did!

Basically, a Hobo Pocket is anything you cook in a foil pouch.  If you’re doing it the traditional way, you’d embed the pouch in the coals of your fire – or cook in direct proximity to the fire.  Since I was cooking on a gas grill, I opted for placing my hobo pockets on the grate alongside the other things I was cooking.

It was sooo easy and sooo good. 

And with the temperatures hovering in the 90’s yesterday, I loved that I didn’t heat up my kitchen at all and yet we had a very tasty and healthy dinner.

Here’s what I cooked:

• Grilled chicken breasts – marinated in Italian Dressing & House Seasoning for about 2 hours (while we were at the pool!)
• Grilled baby Yukon gold potatoes in a hobo pocket that I drizzled with olive oil & House Seasoning.
• Grilled mixed vegetables (baby Portobello mushrooms, carrots, patty-pan squash) drizzled with olive oil and house seasoning and cooked in a separate hobo pocket
• Grilled corn – and if you’ve never tried grilling corn, you really should. This is the best way to cook corn. It brings out the sweetness of the corn and gives it such a good roasted flavor. I grill my corn by soaking in some cold water for about 15 minutes and then I place the corn (in the husk) directly on the grill over low heat for about 30 minutes. We usually put this on first and when we’re ready to cook the remainder of our dinner, we move the corn to the higher rack until we’re ready to serve it. Then we shuck it and drown it in butter.  I know folks who put the butter on before grilling, but I’m afraid of flare-ups on the grill so I wait.

To make your hobo pockets:

Start with a bowl and some foil. I use the bowl to help shape the cavity in which I’ll place the food.

Then add your food

Season

Close it up, being sure you seal it well to keep the heat and steam inside.

Place it on your grill and cook.  For the potatoes, I think I cooked them about 30 minutes. The veggies were on there about 15 but SuperMan said that next time we’d do the carrots separately and longer (or cut them into smaller pieces) because they were still a little hard and everything else was done.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but be careful when you take this off of the grill. It’s HOT!!  And, it will stay hot for a little while, so be careful when you open it, too, that you don’t get a steam burn.

I hope you enjoy. I know I will be doing a LOT more of these this summer.  The food is so good in them and it’s just so simple.

This is next on my list to try:

I’ll let you know how it turns out!

 

del.icio.us Tags: grill cooking,hobo pockets,grilled vegetables,recipes,grilled corn

Simply Delicious Grilled Pizza

I promised you I’d share with you my favorite pizza crust recipe.

This comes from Cook’s Country magazine – the September 2010 issue – which is chock-full of some of my favorite recipes. I love that magazine (and not just the Sept 2010 issue!)

This grilled pizza crust is so good. Slightly sweet, a little crispy, and oh, so, yummy with a light dusting of your favorite toppings. I think the part that makes it so good is the parmesan that is baked into the crust. Oh.my.goodness.

I make a batch and it is more than enough to make four small (personal) sized pizzas for the family.  Which the girls love because they each get to fix their pizza the way they prefer.

For the sauce, I usually use leftovers from my homemade sauce, but I have been known to either open a jarred marinara or even just open some canned crushed tomatoes and season those to use.  Depends on how lazy I am and how stocked (or not) our pantry is!

And I’m sure you can use this not on the grill but I’ve just always grilled it. I bet it would work just fine in your oven on a pizza stone or baking sheet.

Here’s the basic recipe:

Grilled Pizza Dough

• 1 cup water (heated to 110 degrees ~ hot)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil (plus extra for brushing dough & grill)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
• 2 3/4 cups flour (plus more for dusting rolling surface)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt (I use kosher)

For the top:

• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• ~ 3 cups marinara or homemade spaghetti sauce
• toppings of your choice

To prepare dough:

1. Whisk water, 1 tbsp oil, sugar & yeast in large measuring cup. Let sit 5 minutes.
2. In food processor, pulse flour, parmesan, & salt until combined.
3. While machine is running, slowly pour oil mixture down spout until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a ball (this takes about a minute)
4. If dough seems too sticky, you may need to add 1-2 Tbsp flour.
5. Turn dough out on floured surface and knead 3-4 times.
6. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces.
7. Working with one piece at a time, press into a small circle and use a rolling pin to stretch dough to form a 9-inch circle. (mine always turn out oblong!)
8. Transfer each finished circle to baking sheet lined with parchment paper *and dusted with flour* (you can stack them with floured parchment paper between)
9. Meanwhile, heat your grill on high for about 15 minutes (while you are making the dough)
10. Leave your primary burner on high and turn all other burners to low/medium-low. Scrape cooking grate and grease with an oiled paper towel.
11. Brush tops of 2 of your dough circles with olive oil. Peel off of parchment and place OIL SIDE DOWN on the COOL SIDE of your grill.
12. Now, don’t touch them for 3-5 minutes (until the tops are bubbly and undersides are browning)
13. Brush the tops with olive oil, and using tongs, flip the circle.
14. On this freshly-browned top, add your sauce, cheeses and toppings.
15. Cook pizza for 3-5 minutes on cool side of grill and slide to hot side to crisp for 1-2 minutes if desired.
16. Repeat with remaining dough rounds & serve.
17. Finished pizzas can be kept warm in a preheated 200 degree oven if you want to serve them all at one time.

I promise, once you try this, you won’t want the pizza delivery man to bring you his overcharged, under-flavored pizza ever again!

Recipe Wednesday (sort of)

I’m still under the weather and feeling pretty rotten. This “bug” is a pretty nasty one and it’s taking it’s toll on me. I feel like a limp noodle with a raw throat. Don’t think it is strep, though (a couple of you have asked) so I’m just taking my vitamins and listening to my body.

Since I feel so lousy, I’m not really thinking about food… or recipes.  So, rather than leave you hanging with nothing new today, I thought I would share a few recipes I’ve bookmarked on Delicious that I want to try someday.

If you have a recipe to share, add to the list by including it in a comment below. Maybe we’ll all get some new ideas to try out someday soon!

• The Best Flank Steak You Will Ever Have – Tasty Kitchen

• Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Tomatillo Salsa Recipe - Every Day with Rachael Ray

• Ham and Cheese Sliders - Annie's Eats

• Lemon Sugar Cookie Recipe - Two Peas and Their Pod

• Beef 'N' Broccoli Stir-Fry Recipe - Taste of Home Recipes

• Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites - Two Peas and Their Pod

So, what have you got to share? Let’s see!

Spring Garden Salad

This recipe comes from an amalgamation of a friend’s recipe for a broccoli salad and a Kraft recipe for a vegetable salad. I kind of mixed it all together to create this concoction, which is really quite good.

I hope you enjoy!

Spring Garden Salad

1-2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped (about 4-5 cups)
1 cup broccoli crowns, chopped
1/2 cup matchstick cut carrots (or shredded carrots)
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raisins or craisins (we like the craisins best)
3-4 slices cooked, crumbled bacon

Toss it all together. Chill & enjoy.

 

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Veggie "Chili"

This recipe originated as a Weight Watchers recipe from years and years (pre-kids) ago.

It came from this cookbook. I think it is out of print, but it is an awesome cookbook. Mine is falling apart, literally, from all of the uses it has gotten. The pages are dog-eared and stained with cooking messes, but the recipes have withstood the test of time. We still cook from this book regularly.

One of my comfort food recipes in here is veggie “chili.” Now, I grew up being taught that chili, by definition, has meat in it. So, if you go by that definition, this is not really chili. But I find it tastes an awful lot like chili and it has that same hearty goodness that fills you up.

I’ve tinkered with the recipe over the years, so what’s written here is not the same as what’s in the cookbook.  This is our version of the veggie chili we started with in the cookbook.

I know the weather is getting warmer, but this is great if you have a rainy day or just have a hankerin’ for something like chili, but with a healthier twist.

Lois’ Veggie “Chili”

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 can tomatoes with chilies
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
olive oil
Houston House Seasoning
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1/2 cup barley
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 package ranch salad dressing mix
1 (32-ounce) package beef broth
1 cup julienned or finely chopped carrot

1. Sauté carrots, onion & bell pepper in olive oil until tender.
   (the rest you can do in a crock pot or on the stove)
2. Add corn, tomatoes and beans. Add broth & seasonings. Finally, add barley.
3. Cook on simmer/low for at least 30-45 minutes or until barley is fully cooked.

Serve with tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, sour cream and shredded cheese.

 

Perfect Springtime Meal

One of my favorite meals when the weather warms up is salad – garden salads, veggie salads, pasta salads, you name it.

I love a cool pasta salad the most, I think, next to my green salad concoctions I’ve come up with.

This is one that I have made my own over the years but it comes from the days I was a road warrior. I was teaching in Dallas (or was it Houston? I can’t remember.) One of my fellow instructor-buddies was based there and offered to fix me a home-cooked dinner.  Since eating in restaurants was 90% of my daily intake Monday thru Friday, I was only too happy to accept his offer.

He had the tiniest apartment. I remember it because I remember wondering if I would be happy if I were on my own and had a tiny little apartment like that. I loved it, though. His decorating was serene and simple. It made you feel calm and peaceful.  Funny that I remember that even though it has been, oh, I don’t know, fifteen years?

Anyway, he whipped up this awesome pasta salad for our dinner. And I was in heaven.  Most pasta salads I’d had prior to that were typical Southern, mayonnaise-laden affairs which I could barely stomach.  This was light, cool, and fresh.

I later found out that James had invented the recipe on his own. It made it all that more special to me.

I’ve since altered it a bit to suit our tastes, but the essence of the salad is still all James’ original dish.

Chicken Pasta Salad

1 Deli Rotisserie chicken, diced into bite-sized pieces (you can also use baked chicken, but rotisserie seems to have a better flavor for this dish)
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
1/2 chopped green or yellow bell pepper
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 pound fusilli pasta, cooked al dente & drained
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Sweet basil (about 2 tsp)
Garlic powder (about 1 tsp)
Italian Seasoning (about 1 Tbsp)
Cajun Seasoning (about 1 Tbsp)
Black Pepper
Salt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

1. In a large bowl, combine chicken, pasta & vegetables. Mix well.
2. In another bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients except the parmesan cheese. 
3. Pour dressing over pasta mixture & toss to coat.  Dressing should have a little “bite” to it from the Cajun seasoning but not be too spicy. 
4. Top with parmesan cheese. Chill before serving.

If I am making this for a crowd, I double the amount of pasta & veggies and make a double batch of the dressing.

The batch you see above also has some cucumber, peeled, seeded & diced in there.

And this is one of those recipes that's even better made a day ahead.

 

Absolutely Awesome Amaretto Cake

I told you last Tuesday it was “experiment day” in my kitchen.

This is one of the recipes I was working on.

I woke up on Monday wanting to bake a cake for the family to nibble on during the week.  The only thing was I wanted something different.  I wanted something rich like a pound cake, but light and fluffy like the Brown Sugar cake I make.  Something with the caramelly flavor that cake has, but with more. I just wasn’t sure what the more was…

So, I kept thinking about it through the night and decided on Tuesday to go for broke and just make something up as I went along. The worst that could happen was that it turned out awful and I tossed it.

So this is what I made:

Big Girl had the first bite and declared it should be named “Yummy Cake” and bugged me all afternoon to have more slices, so I think it can be considered a success.

Amaretto Cake

1 yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 cup water
1/4 cup amaretto
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup butter softened
1/2 cup All Natural Almond Accents
1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   Grease Bundt pan or tube pan.
   Finely chop almonds.
   Mix all ingredients.
   Pour cake batter into pan.
   Bake one hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

• You can substitute 1/4 cup (4Tbs) of Amaretto flavored coffee syrup for the amaretto (that’s what I did)
• Use 1/2 cup brown sugar if you are not using the Splenda Blend

You could probably make a glaze with some amaretto and powdered sugar, if you like.

 

Another Tortilla Soup Recipe for you

I made Chicken Tortilla soup for lunch on Monday. It was a cold, rainy, Winnie-the-Pooh kind of blustery day.  SuperMan was rained out for work and I was freezing cold all day. Seemed like a good time to make soup to me.

I made a modified version of a recipe I received from a friend.  It was super-yummy.

And one of the things I was proud of was the fact that I didn’t over-cook. For once, I don’t have a vat of soup to eat through.  It was just enough for us to have lunch, dinner, and one lunch leftover container. Perfect.

That is rare for me, but I managed it this time. :-)

Anyway, thought I’d share the recipe with you.

I have another tortilla soup recipe already on the recipe list, but one can never have too many recipes to try, right?

This one is super-easy and mixes up quickly.

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb chicken breast
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 c frozen corn kernels
1/2 c frozen diced onion(or fresh)
1/2 c frozen diced bell pepper (or fresh)
~ 1 c Velveeta
1 box chicken broth (~32 oz)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing seasoning (dry mix)
olive oil

1. Sauté chicken in large stock pot in olive oil. Season with House Seasoning.
2. While chicken is cooking, put broth and Velveeta (cut into cubes) in a large bowl and microwave in 2 minute intervals, stirring in between, until cheese is melted and incorporated into broth.
3. Remove chicken from pot and cut in bite-sized pieces.
4. Sauté onion & bell pepper, adding a little more olive oil if needed.
5. Add chicken back to pot.
6. Pour in broth mixture.
7. Add corn, beans, seasoning packets.
8. Bring to a boil & then reduce heat & simmer for about 20 minutes.

 

Sunny Springtime ~ Sunshine Cake

Springtime makes most of us instinctively want to clear things out – out with the old, in with the new. Out with the clutter, out with the dark tones of winter, out with the heavier foods and in with the light. Lighter colors, lighter clothes, lighter foods.

This is one of my favorite things to make in the springtime.

Mom stumbled across this recipe years ago. It’s been one of our standbys ever since. It is so easy and quick to make, yet it is from scratch and feels wholesome to prepare. 

I love the light texture of the cake – it’s technically a pound cake, but it is in no way heavy like some pound cakes are. This cake bakes up light and airy.

The flavor is light as well – it sings of springtime, with its hints of orange, lemon, and apricot.

There is a glaze in the recipe, although I never make it. My kids are anti-glaze, anti-icing, and prefer their cakes and cookies au naturel.

Works for me. Less sugar to consume.

Anyway, I hope you will give this a try.  The first time I made it, I thought, “Apricot? Really? Huh.”

But, I am so glad I tried it. It is one of the family favorites – and one that is requested often by our friends as well.

I would imagine you could substitute the apricot juice with some orange juice or even lemon juice, but I love it just as it is and have never felt the need to swap it out. I buy the six pack of the little bitty apricot juice cans in the grocery store, so I always have one on hand for the cake.  It takes about half of one of those cans in the cake and I use the rest in the glaze if I make the cake for friends.

Sunshine Cake

3 cups sugar (I use 1 1/2 cups splenda sugar blend)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup apricot juice/nectar (or you can use apricot brandy)
1 cup sour cream (do not use low fat sour cream, it won’t work here)
1 cup butter, softened
6 eggs
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c (apprx) apricot nectar

*if you have them on hand, you can zest a lemon and/or orange into the batter and glaze. It just amps up the flavor.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease and flour Bundt pan or tube pan.
3. In large mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar.
4. Add in the apricot juice.
5. Add the sour cream, extracts and eggs, making sure they are incorporated thoroughly.
6. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt)
7. Pour into baking pan.
8. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Cool for 20 minutes before inverting onto cake plate.
10. Continue to cool for approx. 30 minutes more or until cake is completely cool.
11. Drizzle with glaze, if desired.

 

Totally Awesome Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa

I made the most awesome salsa the other day.

It was inspired by some salsa I had YEARS ago (before Big Girl was born) that I absolutely loved.  There is this little  hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in downtown Atlanta (I wonder if it is still there?) called Mama Ninfa’s. 

I used to go there two or three times a week if I could find someone at work that I could convince to go with me.  Some days, I’d go by myself and read my book while I pigged out on this salsa.  Some days, that was all I’d have for lunch. Chips & salsa.

THIS salsa.

Or something very close to it, anyway.

Since I quit working downtown, I haven’t found this salsa anywhere.

Until the other day.

We went out for lunch after church – another hole-in-the-wall Mexican place.  A Moe’s knock-off.  The food wasn’t that great… BUT… they had the salsa!

I was in heaven. Didn’t care if I got my protein or not or how many carbs I had. I was in heaven simply because I had my salsa.  It was like a walk down memory lane, remembering all those lunches I had with my friend Justin – all those days he’d put up with my pregnant self (I was pregnant with Little Bit) as I had crazy cravings for Mama Ninfa’s salsa and he’d walk down to the restaurant with me.

I asked the very nice girl who worked behind the counter (this new restaurant’s counter, that is) if they made the salsa themselves or bought it. I was secretly hoping they made it themselves. It would somehow take the charm out of the experience to find it was mass-produced and dropped off in vats from Sysco, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, she said they made it in-house and told me the basic ingredients and process.

I came home and started looking for similar recipes online. I couldn’t find any.

SO…

You know what I did?

Yep. I made it up on my own.

And boy, is it good.

Especially with those new whole-grain chips that are out. They really seem to compliment the flavors well.

And I don’t even LIKE avocado!  But I LOVE this salsa.

I whipped up a big batch this weekend so I could share with some friends.  We were having a taco/nacho night and I thought it would be a good accompaniment to the other foods we made.

Give it a try if you have a little time one day. You won’t be sorry you did.

Hey, have I steered you wrong yet?

Lois’ Totally-Awesome Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa

8-10 small-medium tomatillos
1 medium onion, quartered
1 avocado
1 jalapeño (more if you like it spicy) (seeded, ribs removed)
1/4 - 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of cilantro (fresh)
~1 tsp kosher salt

1. In a stock pot, boil the tomatillos (husks removed) for about 5-10 minutes.
2. Remove from water & let cool.
3. In your food processor, combine all ingredients(see note in #5 about the sour cream)
4. Process on low until all ingredients are combined and the salsa is well mixed.
5. I usually add the sour cream last, using it to get the salsa to the consistency I want (which is a thick, slightly chunky consistency)
6. Store refrigerated until serving.
7. Makes about 1 quart.

Lenten Food

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Now, on to today's post:

How many of you observe Lenten rituals?

Any of you?

I grew up not eating meat on Fridays during Lent (and Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, etc) so we ate a lot of fishy-type things during those evenings. Growing up on the coast, it was a relatively easy thing to do.  There were shrimpers selling fresh-caught shrimp right off the boats, fish markets, and then the fish Daddy caught whenever he went fishing.

But one of my favorite dinners, ironically, didn’t have anything to do with fresh-caught fish and was (gasp!) made from canned fish.

It’s still one of the few fishy-type things I like to eat.

Salmon Croquettes – and Momma would serve them with grits, usually. Actually, I don’t remember her ever serving them with anything else.  If she did, it didn’t register. And I can’t imagine eating them with anything else.

SuperMan likes the leftovers for breakfast sandwiches (or for his morning break at work) but the thought of fish for breakfast makes my stomach do not-so-nice flips and turns.

Little Bit loves them as well, but Big Girl (like her Momma and Grandmama) doesn’t care too much for food of the aquatic nature.  When I cook salmon croquettes, I usually have to give her another option. It’s just not gonna happen for her.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something to serve one night, give these a try. For you non-Southerners, I don’t quite know what to suggest you eat them with… since grits are what I prefer!

Here are links to a few grits recipes. They are not really complicated to make, but if you’ve never made them before, I’m sure having something to follow will make you feel more comfortable.

• Paula Deen’s Grits
• Alton Brown’s Cheese Grits (cheese grits are my personal breakfast favorite)

And here is the recipe for the Salmon Croquettes.

Salmon Croquettes

~ 1 lb of salmon
(I buy the pouches from the grocery & usually get 4-6 large pouches.
There is also canned salmon, too. You’d need 2 cans)
1-2 eggs
corn meal
cracker meal
salt/pepper

Momma puts diced onion in hers, but I’m not a big fan of onions in them, so I usually leave them out. SuperMan, however, loves the addition of the onions.

Mix the salmon, egg, corn meal (and/or cracker meal) to form patties. Season with salt & pepper.  You may need 2 eggs depending on how wet or dry your salmon is. If you buy the canned salmon (rather than the pouches) you will want to remove the skin and bones before you make your patties.

You can make the patties as big or as little as you like. I try to make them about palm-sized, so they fit nicely in a bun or biscuit when SuperMan takes them as “to go” meals.

I roll them in some additional corn meal/cracker meal (blended & seasoned) to make a crust before I put them in the frying pan.

Fry them in vegetable oil until they are a nice, rich brown.  I use a slotted spatula to flip them because sometimes they are cranky and may try to fall apart.

Remove them to a paper-towel-covered plate to cool.

It’s a quick and easy supper and one that is filling, too.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I promised this recipe on Monday, so here you go.

It’s my version of a Southern Living Magazine recipe from an ancient issue.

I’ve made it my own with variations and adjustments to suit my family.

We love it.  

Most recently, I made it in the crock pot – everything was frozen, except for the beans and tomatoes, so I just dropped it all in and hit the start button and set the timer for 8 hours. 

When it was dinnertime, I chopped some fresh cilantro and baked some crescent rolls (recipe also below) with a little Southwestern flair.

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cans (32 oz) chicken broth (or one big box of broth)
1 can kidney beans (rinsed & drained)
1 can black beans (rinsed & drained)
1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 can Tomatoes with Chiles
3-4 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1. Sauté onion & bell pepper in oil in a small skillet.
2. In crock pot (or large stock pot), add onions, peppers, and remaining ingredients (except cilantro).
3. If you are using crock pot, set to “Low” and cook for 5-6 hours.
   If you are cooking on the stove, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-40 minutes.
4. When serving, top each bowl with fresh cilantro.

 

And here is the bread recipe.

Southwestern Knots

2 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls or breadsticks

1. Mix butter, chili powder & cumin.
2. Unroll breadsticks & place on cookie sheet.
3. Brush with butter blend
4. Bake @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

*You can make these “Italian” for other soups/stews by substituting the chili/cumin with Italian seasoning & parmesan cheese.

Strawberry Cheesecake that is Good for You?

I know, sounds crazy doesn’t it?

Well, it isn’t!

As long as you’re willing to be creative with your definition of “strawberry cheesecake” that is…

I have a smoothie I make that tastes JUST LIKE a cheesecake with strawberries.

Yum.

And it’s GOOD FOR ME!

“Winning!” (sorry, I couldn’t resist)

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

8-10 oz milk
1 scoop strawberry protein powder (you could use vanilla, too)
1 Tbsp Cheesecake pudding mix (I use the sugar-free variety)
1 Tbps Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup (like the coffee syrups)
1-2 packets of Splenda (or your SF sweetener of choice)
1 cup frozen strawberries

Mix in blender & enjoy!!

 

Just a little somethin' I whipped up

I woke up Saturday morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
(that’s a Southern phrase for those of you not from down here)

My brain was churning with all sorts of crazy schemes – like a yard sale idea.
(where did THAT come from!?!?)

So, I crept downstairs and left the rest to their slumbers, brewed some tea and sat down to do some blog reading. I haven’t had time this week to read many of my favorites, so I was looking forward to at least an hour (hopefully) of catching-up time.

I stumbled across a blog which touted “the best scones ever” and of course I hopped right on over to check out the recipe.

And then, I decided that they were going to be Saturday morning breakfast.

And, oh, were they good. So, very, very good.

Yeah, they might truly be the best scones ever.

As I usually do, I tweaked the recipe as I went along.
(I’m not very good at following directions of any kind these days)

If you have these ingredients on hand, try these.

If you don’t, go shopping, get the ingredients and try these.

They are so worth it.

I gave two to my neighbors because I knew if I had them in the house I would gobble them all up and that would be bad news.

Seriously. Try them. You won’t regret it. And anyone who eats one with you will love you for making them.

 

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

adapted from this Tyler Florence recipe

Scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold & cut into pieces
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup frozen blueberries

Lemon Glaze:

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp lemon extract
lemon zest
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt & sugar in food processor.

Add butter and blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add buttermilk, mixing just to incorporate.
(Depending on how dry your dough is you may need a little more buttermilk, but don’t get it too wet)

Fold in blueberries.

On a greased cookie sheet, turn out dough and shape into approximately 10” circle.
(about 3/4 inch thick)
(You may have to round up wayward blueberries and push them back in!)
You could do this on a floured surface, but I was lazy this morning. 

Cut the dough into pie-shaped wedges and separate on your cookie sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let the scones cool a bit before adding glaze.

While the scones are baking, make the glaze:

In a microwave safe measuring cup, mix your lemon juice and powdered sugar. Add lemon extract &  butter and microwave for about 30 seconds. Whisk to smooth any lumps and drizzle over semi-cooled scones.

Prepare to die from happiness.

Seriously. They are that good.